This invention relates to a soccer trainer. More specifically, this invention relates to a soccer trainer having two different rebound surfaces to practice ground passing, trapping and shooting skills on one surface and to practice head, chest and thigh passing on the other surface.
Being a team sport, opportunities for individual practice on basic soccer techniques are not always readily available. Numerous training aids have been developed through the years to assist soccer players in practicing on their own or while executing repetitive team drills.
For developing foot skills useful in trapping, passing, and shooting, prior art training devices have typically employed some type of rebound surface such as a tensioned net. Representative examples of rebounding nets may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,615,889 of Long, 6,846,253 of Szwalek, and 6,935,971 of Piras et al. The speed at which the ball is rebounded is directly influenced by the force of the ball impacting the rebound surface. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,528, York teaches a structure that receives and then rolls the soccer ball back to the user at a more controlled velocity. The foregoing devices, however, may be large, heavy, or both, and are cumbersome for a single individual to set up for a practice session. Likewise due to size and weight, such devices are not easily transported or stored.
Another type of prior art soccer training aids is designed for developing head, chest, and thigh contact skills useful in trapping and passing a ball. For this purpose it is necessary that the soccer ball be elevated into the air by a rebounding surface so the user can then practice head butts, chest bumps and thigh kicks for passing control. Mazloompour in U.S. Pat. Nos. D517,620, D537,488, and 7,597,558 teaches a large, concave ramp surface for delivering a ball back in the air. Valliquette in Publication No. US 2004/0176193 discloses a weighted training device having a sloped surface to return a kicked ball back in the air to the user. For all practical purposes the Mazloompour device is virtually a permanent structure due to size and weight. Likewise, when the Valliquette device is weighted it is also virtually a permanent structure.
Accordingly, a need remains in the art of soccer training aids for a portable trainer which overcomes the problems and disadvantages associated with the prior art devices. The primary goal of this invention is to meet this need.